Bringing your business finances to life

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS

Imagine how you would feel if you knew the financial status of your business at all times

Powerful, knowledgeable, motivated and in control all instantly spring to mind.

Yet many business owners often feel scared and daunted by their business finances, not knowing what to look for and thinking that it is too difficult.

Knowing your numbers enables you to find what is, and what isn’t, working in your business. From this you can analyse business trends, and from these, you can see where best to focus your time and effort providing valuable growth and profit opportunities enabling you to meet your financial goals.

For example, if your most profitable service is also a best seller, and one that you love providing, there may be no need to spend time and effort marketing other services, and if August is always a quiet month for you, don’t panic if this August is a quiet one too. In fact, August would be a great time to take a holiday.

If you would like to move from feeling scared to feeling powerful let’s talk about how I can help. Email Natalie@knowyournumbers.org.uk or call me on 07891 002 928

Financial Goals

Time and Effort

Business Trends

Why do we need to know our numbers?

Understanding the numbers that sit within our business ensures that future business decisions can be made on facts rather than gut instincts. With one off, annual, quarterly, and monthly options, there is something to fit everyone’s needs.

Understand what to focus on

When you know which aspects of your business are most profitable and which need more focus, you can realign resources accordingly or focus your business development efforts in a different area.

Measure success

Once your financial goals have been set, you can clearly measure progress against them. Track how many services you have sold, check that everything is going according to plan, and know if the best sellers are those that provide the highest profit.

Annual trends

Understanding annual trends in your business will help you plan accordingly. If September is your busiest month you may need to prepare to take on some freelancers to assist during that time or keep your diary as clear as possible to ensure you meet the business demands.

Spending habits

A review of spending is as important as setting and tracking turnover goals. A financial report will show where money is being spent, and potential opportunities to reduce these. A review of spending habits could increase your annual profit.

Avoid the tax return stress

Keeping your bookkeeping up to date means that you have everything in place for when you need to submit your tax return. There will be no need to scramble around looking for up to 12 months’ worth of receipts and transactions.

Remove the fear

Take away any fear you may feel about finances. Once you understand what the numbers are, and the impact they can have on your business, you will be able to act accordingly and prepare for success.

What I’ll need from you

In order to bring your business finances to life, and uncover the data held within them, I would need for you to regularly provide a basic financial report from your online accounts package, together with a list of services provided and a list of clients. I can walk you through the process and will send reminders when this is due.

Don’t worry if your accounts system isn’t always up to date, or even if you are still using a spreadsheet to track your accounts. I can do your bookkeeping too, all you would need to do is provide me with receipts and invoices, together with a list of your financial transactions, and I will do the rest.

How often should you do this?

We can agree this when we start to work together. Monthly, quarterly, or even annually. But as a general rule, monthly works best as that way you will always have a clear picture of what is going on within your business.

What you’ll get from me

I will turn your reports into a clear presentation of how your business is doing. Clear visuals which are easy to read will be provided with key insights and progress against your goals.

I will analyse your business numbers for the previous two financial years, creating a template for future use, and pull out the important facts hidden within these numbers, enabling you to base your business decisions on facts.

If you would like a meeting to review the insights together, or even an accountability call, I am happy to do this with you.

Taking care of your bookkeeping

If you struggle to keep your bookkeeping up to date, or even avoid doing this until year end when your accountant asks for it, or when your tax return needs to be submitted, I can help. I will look after your invoicing, expenses, and VAT preparation, and ensure your accounts documentation is ready for your accountant.

Happy Clients

Before I met Natalie, I’m ashamed to say that I was the stereotypical business owner who kept a pile of receipts in a lever arch file, and had no idea what my corporation tax would look like until right before the moment I had to write a big fat cheque. I played this ridiculous game for years, despite being a ‘professional’ (I’m a Sports Medicine Doctor). Basically, I had no handle on my numbers, and because I hated dealing with the financial paperwork, I literally hid it all away, pretending that the elephant in the room didn’t exist. Natalie changed all that. Not only did she clear a giant backlog, she literally put my finger back on the pulse of my financials. Natalie is efficient, professional, friendly and never judged me for my paperwork mess. I can 100% recommend her, if you feel out of touch with your numbers.

Dr Catherine Spencer-Smith, Consultant Physician in Sport and Exercise Medicine

Know Your Numbers – what a fantastic service this is that Natalie provides! I know exactly where I am with my business at all times. I am a sole trader – so I don’t need to report to a management team or board – only myself! However, what I have found is that the same principles apply from when I was running a bigger business. I want to know what my monthly turnover is. I want to know which clients are my best clients, so I know who I want to be marketing at for future growth I want to know which packages/classes are my best, so I can do more of those It’s great to be able to compare year on year and month on month – so I can witness my growth, plan for future growth and ensure I am putting my energies where is best. If you are a sole trader and thinking this isn’t for you – do think again. Setting in place from the very start of a business good principles that set you up for growth. Knowing your numbers is high up on that list! Thank you Natalie for helping me see my business clearly.

Vicki Baumann, Founder and Yoga Teacher, YogaWithVickiB

More about me

I’m Natalie, and I have been running my executive assistant business for over 15 years. I regularly monitor how my business is doing, comparing the current month with the previous one, also comparing it to the same month in the previous year. I check progress against my financial goals regularly, and I know which are my most profitable services and clients. I say that I do this regularly, but if I am honest, I do this daily – and it takes me just 2 – 3 minutes. Yes, just 2 – 3 minutes to get a true picture of my business.

From my 15 years of data, I can base all my business decisions on facts and not on assumptions. I know that I have worked with one client, for over 20 years, before I even set up my own business; I know which are my largest clients; I know that December is a good time for me to go on holiday, and I know how many hours I need to work on any given day for me to keep on top of my goals.

Now I want to make sure that all small business owners are in a position to be able to base their business decisions on facts too.

If you want to Know Your Numbers let’s talk about how I can help. Email Natalie@knowyournumbers.org.uk or call me on 07891 002 928

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